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By Jeff Rivenbark - email
CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - The City of Charlotte says it had no choice but to hand over a list containing the email addresses of residents who have requested updates from the city to a local newspaper.
The City of Charlotte sent out a "courtesy notification" earlier this week which said The Charlotte Observer requested the city's email subscriber list.
According to the city's website, 'Notify Me' is a free subscription-based service designed to provide up-to-date information by subject area and item. Residents of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County must provide their zip code when they subscribe to the service which allows the city to send out information relevant to where a person lives.
Due to the North Carolina Public Records law, the city said it had to provide the information to the newspaper.
On Friday, WBTV News asked The Charlotte Observer its purpose in requesting the list from the city.
Steve Gunn, Director of Strategic Products and Audience Development for the newspaper, replied back in an email with a blanket statement in which he has sent to anyone who has inquired about the matter.
Last edited by sundrop; 01-21-2011 at 12:17 PM..
Reason: deleted some of the article.....
Yeah sure, someone with the title of "Director of Strategic Products and Audience Development" wants the addresses for something other than sales leads....
I received that "courtesy email" the other day and wondered why they were asking for email addresses.
I will wait to see what kind of BS spam they send me, but Steve Gunn is going to get a few choice words directed at him when I find out.
Here's my dilemma: I have an Observer weekend subscription for the coupons. It is cheaper to keep the subscription than to buy a Sunday paper solo. The coupons make a big difference in my shopping bill. Should I keep the subscription? I'd love to threaten with canceling it (the rest of the paper goes straight into recycling anyway) but the coupons...
"The Observer has requested the listings because we believe that many of the engaged citizens on the lists would be interested in helping us improve our journalism by telling us about stories they see," said Gunn. "This might include sharing their expertise on a particular topic, or telling us about something in their neighborhood. It also might include telling us about their experiences with city government and services."
Gunn said residents who are on the email distribution list will receive an email from the newspaper in a few weeks asking if they would like to serve as a "citizen expert" for the paper.
"The email listing will not be shared with any outside company or partners," Gunn said in his statement. "It will not be intermingled with other email lists. You would have the ability to opt-in to receive any additional emails. Your email address will not be released to the public through the newspaper or our website."
lighten up! 'tis only an EMAIL account! if it gets too bombarded with spam, just open a new, free email account!
I use my yahoo account for all registrations, I give my gmail account to friends and for personal email. I use my work email account for work related matters. bada-bing, no problemo!
lighten up! 'tis only an EMAIL account! if it gets too bombarded with spam, just open a new, free email account!
I use my yahoo account for all registrations, I give my gmail account to friends and for personal email. I use my work email account for work related matters. bada-bing, no problemo!
For me, it's less about them sending emails, and more about how they got the addresses. The article said folks are unsubbing from the city site, because of the Observer's actions. If I sign up to get city info, I expect that my email will be secure - it usually is, for most sites I sign up with. For the Observer to use the Public Records law to get email addresses to do their marketing doesn't, as the OP said, seem right.
I know folks can opt out of being contacted - after they're initially contacted! - and don't have to sign up for anything. It seems wrong to me that they're being contacted by the Observer in the first place!
Why didn't the paper just promote the idea of the "citizen experts" in the paper, and get folks to sign up for it? Why not see if the city would put a blurb in the emails they were sending?
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlotteGal
For me, it's less about them sending emails, and more about how they got the addresses. The article said folks are unsubbing from the city site, because of the Observer's actions. If I sign up to get city info, I expect that my email will be secure - it usually is, for most sites I sign up with. For the Observer to use the Public Records law to get email addresses to do their marketing doesn't, as the OP said, seem right.
I know folks can opt out of being contacted - after they're initially contacted! - and don't have to sign up for anything. It seems wrong to me that they're being contacted by the Observer in the first place!
Why didn't the paper just promote the idea of the "citizen experts" in the paper, and get folks to sign up for it? Why not see if the city would put a blurb in the emails they were sending?
If there's one word about marketing in the email that you get report them & tell how they got your email. FTC - SPAM - Home Page
That's brilliant. Wrong, but brilliant. There's no such thing as bad publicity. . . unless you run a newspaper.
If I would have thought of it I would have done it not for the names but for the City to advertise me.
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